A Price To Pay
by XxKarissaShayexX
Summary: There's always a price to pay for everything, right? What's the price to pay to be popular, thin, the same as everyone else, but different from yourself? Rating may go up in later chapters. Lizwin in later chapters. ON HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

Okay, well, I thought that I would write a story that explored deeper things in life. Real things in life. The stuff being discussed in this story is very real and mature. If you're not mature enough to handle such real, mature subjects, please do not read. But, if you are, please read on.

P.S. - In this fic, Edwin and Lizzie are 15 and just entered high school. Derek and Casey are 18 and in their senior year.

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek.

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It was the week of tryouts at Edwin and Lizzie's new high school. Everything had gone just fine the previous weeks. They would trying to get well adjusted to things around them. Their schedules, their lockers, seeing a whole bunch of kids a lot older than them, and seeing Derek and Casey every once in a while during lunch or between classes.

Lizzie had her mind set. She was determined to get onto the girl's soccer team. She also had another secret desire: to be popular. She didn't want to end up like her sister and being labled 'Klutzilla' and 'Grade Grubber'. She wanted people to like her. It was so out of character, but this was the best place for her to flourish.

Lizzie tied her soccer cleats and headed outside. She was pumped about this. She new she would do well and make the team. She'd been playing soccer for years and there was nothing that was going to stop her.

Well, nothing except for the coach of the soccer team who had just done that after tryouts: stop her. The coach pulled Lizzie into her office in the girl's locker room.

"Listen, Lizzie. You're an amazing soccer player. I would love to have you on my team," the coach said. Lizzie smiled at this and she gave herself a mental pat on the back, until the coach spoke again. "Except, you're a little heavier than most of my players. You're not fat or anything, but it wouldn't help if you shed a couple of pounds. It'd make you lighter on the field. You understand?"

Lizzie frowned, but nodded her head. The coach dismissed Lizzie from her office and Lizzie left in a daze. _'A little heavier'_ rang through her head all the way home.

The first thing that Lizzie did when she got home was run up the stairs and undress. She pulled on a tight-fitting tanktop and short shorts to reveal as much of her body as possible. She wanted to examine herself in her full-lenth mirror.

She stood in front of it and furrowed her eyebrows. _'Oh, God. Not playing as much soccer this summer and eating all that junk food with Edwin had backfired,'_ Lizzie thought, grabbing at her stomach and thighs.

She sighed and sucked her stomach in. She smiled at what she saw. _'I guess it would be nice to lose a few pounds. It would also help me become popular I'm sure. All those girls were thin,'_ Lizzie thought and turned to the side to examine her legs.

A knock sounded on Lizzie's door as Lizzie turned her back to the mirror and craned her neck to examine her butt. "Come in!" She shouted, grabbing her butt and pushing it up some. Edwin walked in a stared awkwardly at Lizzie.

"Umm, maybe I came at a wrong time," Edwin said, backing away and looking at Lizzie from head to toe. Lizzie turned to face Edwin and shook her head and waved him in.

"No, no, no. Don't be silly, Ed. It's fine, come in." She turned back to the mirror and looked at her stomach in disgust. Edwin looked a little skeptical, but came in anyways and plopped down on the edge of her bed.

After a few moments of silence, Edwin opened mouth. "What the heck are you _doing_?" He asked. She turned to face him and put a hand on her hip.

"I'm examining myself," she said in a 'duh' tone. Edwin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You're what? Why?" Edwin asked, looking at her strangely when she turned her back to the mirror again and looked her butt, poking it with her index finger. She sighed in exasperation and sat down next to Edwin on her bed.

"Ed, do you think I'm fat?" She asked, looking at him with her nose scrunched up in disgust at, what she though was, her hideously fat body.

"Uhh, no, Lizzie. Is that why you're looking at yourself in the mirror?" He asked, looking at her as if she was some sort of alien. She got up again and walked towards the mirror, standing directly in front of it. She threw her shoulders back, put her feet together, held her chin level to the ground, and sucked in her stomach.

"The coach said I could lose a few pounds. She said I'm heavier than most of her players," Lizzie said, frowning. She stared down at her chest and thought of her older sister, Casey, who was very busty. She thought back to all the popular girls and how busty and thin they were.

"You're not fat, Liz," Edwin said, sighing.

"Liar," she muttered.

Lizzie shook her head and walked out of her bedroom and went downstairs. She wanted to talk to her mother, Nora. Edwin stood there, staring after her, dumbfounded. He shook his head and muttered something about woman and raging hormones and raced up to his attic-bedroom.

Lizzie leaned against the island countertop and stared at her mother, watching her cook.

"Hey, mom?" Lizzie asked, causing Nora to turn and stare at her daughter.

"Lizzie, why are you wearing that?" Nora gasped.

Lizzie was cut off from answering when Derek and Casey came into the kitchen fighting over something rediculous. They stopped short when they saw Lizzie. Derek stared in shock. _'Oh, boy. I wonder if Edwin has seen Liz, yet,'_ Derek thought.

"Lizzie!" Casey stated, looking at her younger sister up and down.

"Am I fat?" She asked them. Derek rolled his eyes. _'Typical women,'_ he thought.

"Lizzie, why in the world would you think you're fat? You're skinny!" Casey said.

"Yeah, compared to you, Case, everyone is skinny," Derek retorted, receiving a slap up side the head from Casey.

Nora dropped the kitchen towel on the countertop and stared at Lizzie. "Is that why you're wearing that?"

"I'm fat, aren't I?" Lizzie insisted, staring down at her legs.

"Oookay, I'm leaving now," Derek said, racing out of the kitchen.

"Liz, you're not fat, alright?" Casey said. Lizzie thought for a second and nodded. She knew better though. She was fat and there was something that needed to be done about it.

"Okay, Case. I guess your right. You're always right, right?" Lizzie said, smiling up at her older sister.

"Well, dinner's done. So, Liz, go upstairs and change and then get Ed and come down, okay?" Nora said, smiling at Lizzie, but she still had an unsettling feeling in her stomach.

"Okay," Lizzie said and raced up the stairs to her bedroom. She changed and got Edwin from his attic-bedroom and they trudged downstairs and were greated by a full table. Lizzie and Edwin took their usual seats. Edwin dug into the food and gave himself plenty. Lizzie, on the other hand, looked skeptically at the food.

_'She a couple of pounds,'_ rang in her head. She promised herself that she'll start her diet the next day and digged into the food, giving herself plenty and almost as much as Edwin and Derek.

The family ate in silence. Every once in a while, Nora, Casey, or Edwin would glance over at Lizzie in concern. Derek just shoved his food in his mouth and Marti pretended she was a cat and sat under the table, meowing. George was as oblivious as ever to the concerened glances being sent Lizzie's way.

Lizzie finished her food rather quickly and excused herself from the table, claiming she was tired and wanted to turn in early.

As Lizzie was walking down the hall, she passed the bathroom and paused. _'A little heavier'_ ran through her mind. _'Well, I have to lose weight, don't I? What the heck! I'll do it. It's to lose the weight. Lose the weight. Lose the weight,'_ Lizzie pepped talked herself in her mind and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and locking it.

She walked over to the toilet and stood in front of it, contemplating on whether if what she was doing would be good or not. _'Of course it's good! It'll help me lose weight! I want to be on the soccer team, right? Right'_ Lizzie thought.

She kneeled down on her knees in front of the toilet. She lifted the seat and pulled herself closer. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of air. _'Better do it before I digest my food!'_ Lizzie thought and opened her mouth, thrusting her two first fingers inside and hitting her pharyngeal reflex. She gagged a little, but, much to her unliking, no bile came up.

She frowned and did it again, this time, she felt the bile rise in her throat and pour out her mouth and into the water of the toilet. She coughed a little and closed her eyes, trying to shake the feeling of the blood rushing behind her eyes when she had purged.

She stood up hazily and flushed the toilet, closing the lid. She went to the sink and stared at her reflection, vomit smudged at the corners of her mouth. She wiped her mouth with her hand and washed her hands. She bent down and took some water into her mouth, swishing it around and spitting it out, watching the remains of her food wash down the drain in a light green puddle.

She turned off the water and stared at her reflection again. She sighed and closed her eyes, then smiled to herself. _'That felt nice,'_ she thought giddily and walked to the towel hanging on the wall and dried her hands and mouth.

She walked back happily to her bedroom and laid on her bed, falling asleep soon.

--

Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, well, thank you to Lady Azura. Only one that reviewed. You inspired me to keep writing! Well, I'll try my best to keep this going the way that I want it to go. This is extremely OOC, but that's the point. Lizzie wants to change, so keep up with it! And I must warn you...this chapter isn't exactly rated M, but I think it should be rated OT for Older Teen. 16+ So, please read and review! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek.

--

Lizzie woke up groggily and had a light feeling in her stomach. It growled a little and she frowned at it. She knew that she had to skip a few meals to stay thin, but breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Although, she had to make sacrifices and decided on drinking a glass of water when she got down to the kitchen.

Until then, she hopped off her bed and walked to her closet. She glared at her clothes. _'I just _have_ to buy new clothes. A lot of these are old and raggity. How am I suppose to be in the popular crowd if I have _these_ to wear?!'_ Lizzie thought in worry and disgust. Lizzie sighed and walked out of her bedroom, heading to her sister, Casey's room.

She knocked softly on the door and heard a muffled, "Come in!" from her sister, then opened the door and closed it behind her. Casey set down her hairbrush and turned to her younger sister with a smile.

"What is it, Liz?" Casey asked, standing up and walking to her.

"Umm, do you have any smaller, nice clothes?" Lizzie asked, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. Casey furrowed her eyebrows at Lizzie in confusion.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "But, don't you have clothes to wear?"

"Yeah, well, I don't think they'd be good for school," she said, glancing down and wringing her fingers. "You know, for high school." she said quietly. Casey smiled and nodded in understandment.

"Sure, Liz. Here, sit down while I find some of my old clothes. They should fit you," she said, going over to her closet and rummaging inside. Lizzie sat down on Casey's bed and waited in silence. Casey retrieved some clothes and brought them to the bed.

"Okay, so, I have 3 outfits here. I even have some shoes that don't fit me anymore, but they're your size that would go along with each of these outfits," Casey said excitedly, glad to be passing down something to her sister.

Lizzie stood up and looked at each of the outfits. The first was a plain white blouse with short sleaves paired with black jeans. _'Too plain,'_ she thought and moved onto the next outfit.

The second was a red turtle neck sweater paired with white pants. She furrowed her eyebrows at the turtle neck. _'Too hot'_ Lizzie thought and moved to the third outfit.

The third outfit was a green, lowcut, sleaveless shirt paired with a mini jean skirt. Lizzie smiled. _'Very different. I like it,'_ Lizzie picked up the outfit and turned to her sister who had her eyebrows raised at her decision.

Casey was sure her sister would pick the first outfit.

"What shoes do you have to go with this?" she asked. Casey shook her head and walked back to her closet, coming back with green ballet flats. Casey handed them to her and walked out of her room, letting Lizzie change.

'Why would she pick that?' Casey wondered, waiting for Lizzie to finish.

Lizzie stood in the full-length mirror and sighed in exaspiration. 'God, the coach was right. I'm a big, fat whale,' she thought as she sucked in her stomach. She heard a knock on the door and yelled, "Come in!" Casey stepped in and looked at Lizzie in surprise.

"It looks really good," Casey said uneasily.

"Thanks!" Lizzie said excitedly and bolted out of Casey's bedroom.

Lizzie finished brushing her teeth and stared at herself in the mirror. _'I need to lose more weight, ugg,'_ she thought, then left the bathroom and running straight into Edwin. Edwin back up and said, "Sorry," then stared at her.

"Morning, Ed," she said, heading to the stairs. He stared after her in awe. She raced down the stairs and into the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle and leaving just as fast as she came. Derek only caught a glimpse of her, but it was enough to make him drop his spoonful of cereal. He shook his head and put his bowl in the sink.

Lizzie was feeling rather excited as she wated for the bus with Edwin. She couldn't wait to see what other people thought of her outfit. _'They'd probably still think you're fat,'_ a british girl's voice said in her mind. Lizzie jumped at the sound of the voice, then shook her head and smiled more when she saw the bus getting closer and halting in front of them.

Lizzie climbed onto the bus, followed by Edwin and sat down in a seat in the middle of the bus. A girl that was known to be popular and fun was sitting in front of Lizzie and turned around.

"Lizzie, right?" She asked. Lizzie nodded in excitement as the girl looked her up and down.

"I'm Lindsey," she said, smiling at Lizzie. "Nice skirt," she said.

"Thanks," Lizzie replied, a bubbly feeling building inside of her.

"So, are you a freshie?" Lindsey asked.

"Yeah," Lizzie said and nodded sheepishly.

"That's cool. I'm a sophomore. Hey, do you by chance want to sit with me at lunch today?" Lindsey asked. Lizzie tried not to look so eager.

"Of course," Lizzie practically yelled. Lindsey laughed and nodded at her.

"Cool. I'll see you then," Lindsey said, turning back around in her seat.

Lizzie smiled goofily all the way to school. _'Wow, this is actually working,'_ she thought.

Lizzie had never been so excited in her life when lunchtime rolled around. She walked into the cafeteria and scanned the area, looking for Lindsey. She saw Lindsey waving at her and signalling her over to the table she was at. Lizzie smiled and walked to the table and took a seat next to Lindsey.

"Hey, Lizzie. Guys this is Lizzie," Lindsey said to the other girls at the table and then she pointed each girl out to Lizzie. "This is Amber."

"Hi!" Amber waved.

"This is Colleen," Lindsey continued. Colleen smiled and waved. "This is Brittany, Alex, Anna, and this," Lindsey paused to gesture to the girl sitting on the other side of her. "This is my girlfriend, Kayla." Lizzie tried to keep her eyebrows from raising up at the word 'girlfriend'.

"Girlfriend?" She asked, staring down at Kayla's and Lindsey's intertwined hands.

"Yeah, I'm bisexual. I guess I really don't come off as swinging both ways, but I do," she stated, smiling at Kayla, then back at Lizzie.

"Cool," Lizzie said, then looked around Lindsey at Kayla. "It's nice to meet you, Kayla."

"Please, call me Kay," she said, laughing.

"Okay,_ Kay_," Lizzie said.

Lizzie couldn't believe that one of her newest friends was bisexual as well as extremely popular. It just surprised her so much, but she had nothing against homosexuals and bisexuals. She even supported them.

Her lunch was great, talking to the girls at the table and sipping on her water. They, of course, had asked if she was going to eat anything else and she simply replied with a 'I had a big breakfast and I'm still full', even though it was a complete lie. She hardly ever lied, but she was, afterall, changing. And she was committed to changing as well.

Lizzie found out that she had got onto the team and was happy for herself. She continued eating very little for the next month, hanging out with Lindsey almost every single day. She had become so close to her and thought of her as her best friend now.

Lindsey called Lizzie one day crying and asking if she could come over and spend the night. It was Friday, so her mom didn't find any reason to say no. Lindsey hurried over and they raced up to Lizzie's bedroom, closing the door.

"What's wrong?" Lizzie asked, rubbing Lindsey's arm for comfort. They sat on Lizzie's bed and Lindsey tried to control her crying to the best of her ability. She sniffed and began choking out words.

"Kayla...she broke up with me," Lindsey said, causing her to go into another fit of crying. Lizzie pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back.

"Shhh, it's okay, Lindsey. I'm sorry. Besides, you deserve better, okay?" Lizzie whispered comfortingly. Lindsey pulled back and smiled weakly at Lizzie.

"You think so?" She asked.

"I know so," Lizzie said, smiling at Lindsey. Lindsey let out a little laugh and wiped away her tears.

"You're the best, Liz. Thank you so much," Lindsey said, hugging Lizzie and pulling back.

"You're wel-" Lizzie was cut off from Lindsey's lips on her own. Lizzie's eyes widened. _'What the heck?'_ she asked herself, but couldn't pull away as Lindsey's lips moved against her own. Lindsey pulled away abruptly and looked away.

"I'm sorry. I guess I got caught up in the moment, you know?" Lindsey asked, turning back towards Lizzie. Lizzie smiled and leaned in and kissed Lindsey, closing her eyes this time. Lizzie had no idea what she was doing. She just felt that is what she should do.

And even when Lindsey sat on top of Lizzie, stradling her on the bed, she didn't even think of stopping. She just let Lindsey run her hands over her body and kiss her senseless. 'Okay, so, I'm a girl and Lindsey is a girl. This is...different. And I want to be different, right? Go with it, Lizzie. Do something to make her happy,' Lizzie thought and her hands shot out at Lindsey's chest, cupping her hands around Lindsey's breasts and squeezing.

Lindsey moaned on Lizzie's lips and let Lizzie slip her hands under her shirt and fondle her.

Lizzie had made a commitment and there was absolutely no turning back now. She couldn't erase anything that she had done and she knew that. She committed to changing and boy was this a big change. But, Lizzie couldn't decide if it was a good change or a bad change.

--

Please review. Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay!! Thanks for the reviews! I'm trying to get this in the direction I want it to go in. Now, remember, Lizzie has been wanting to change...so this is going to revolve around that. Lizwin will be coming soon!

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek.

--

It had been a month...a month since she started to control her eating. She had lost a lot of weight and although she was happy with it, her coach was not. Her coach has suspended her from the team the third time Lizzie fainted on the field. She had told Lizzie to start eating some weight gaining shakes and then she could come back to the team. To say Lizzie was upset would be an understatement. She thought that she was doing great with her weight. She even had let herself have some more food every once in a while.

But, that wasn't the only thing that had happened in just one month. She started to feel the wild side of high school. She hadn't been to one of the parties yet, but she was not even 15; she could wait a little while longer. Of course, she hadn't expected the wait to be so soon when Amanda Shevels came up to her during lunch and invited her to a big blowout that was on Friday. Lizzie was excited. Her first high school party and Lindsey had talked to her and said she'd help Lizzie get ready for it.

And speaking of Lindsey, they had also discussed that wild night when Kayla had dumped her and Lindsey came crying to Lizzie, asking for comfort. Sure, she got comfort alright, but they decided to be on a strict best friend base; meaning, those things were not to happen and they just got sort of out of hand.

But, Friday came all too soon and Lizzie was beginning to feel extremely nervous. Lindsey came over to help her get ready.

"Lizzie, sit still. You don't want to end up looking like Cyndi Lauper do you?" Lindsey asked, trying to put on just the right amount of blue eye shadow. Lizzie gulped and gave her a confused look.

"Umm, no?" She asked, not really sure what Cyndi Lauper looked like. Lindsey sighed dramatically, but continued on to the other eye.

"Right," she said, finishing up and pulling away with a smile. "Done!" She shouted, then paused, tapping her finger on her chin. "There's something missing." She paused, then brightened up, snapping her fingers and reaching for Casey's tube of lipgloss. "I almost forgot this," she said, placing a layer of lipgloss on Lizzie's lips. Lizzie rolled her lips together and looked at her reflection.

"I look odd," she decided. Lindsey laughed and shook her head.

"No, you're just not used to it," she said. "Okay, so you told your mom, right?"

"Yep, going to a small bonfire at Shelly's," she said, nodding and still not believing she had lied to her own mother. But, her mother smiled and believed every word that spilled out of Lizzie's mouth. For all that she knew, she had the most innocent daughter that would never lie to her.

"Okay, I think we're ready!" Lindsey shouted.

--

"I don't know any of these people!" Lizzie shouted over the music at the raging party.

"They're all juniors and seniors!" Lindsey shouted back, scanning the room.

"WHAT?!" Lizzie shouted in surprise.

"Amanda thinks we're juniors!" Lindsey said, nodding her head. Lizzie nodded her head in understandment, but cringed away when she saw a swaying guy stumbling past her, nearly smacking her head.

"Now what?!" Lizzie shouted to Lindsey again.

"I don't know," Lindsey replied, "let's walk around!"

"Okay!"

They walked from the foyer and into the living room, stepping between meshing boddies and couples who were obscenely making out. Lizzie nearly fainted when she saw an all-too-familiar guy making out with another all-too-familiar girl on the couch in the living room. The all-too-familiar girl sitting on the all-too-familiar guy's lap with her hands tangled in his hair and one of his hands on her waist and the other tangled in her hair.

"Derek?! Casey?!" Lizzie shouted, appalled at the two. Casey and Derek pulled away and looked around for the person who called their name, clearly dazed and not thinking straight.

""Huh?"" Casey and Derek muttered drunkenly, then she looked down at the person she was sitting on. She let out a loud scream and jumped off of him. He screamed in response and jumped up. Clearly, they had no clue that they were snogging each other. Casey pointed at him, broken from her drunken state, then pointed at herself. Derek stared in horror and gulped, also very sober now.

Lizzie shook her head, still scared by the sight she had just seen and caught up with Lindsey. Lindsey looked at her, scrunching her eyebrows together.

"Where'd you go?!" She shouted.

"I just saw my sister making out with my step-brother!!" Lizzie shouted, cringing at what she just said.

"WHAT?! Casey making out with Edwin?!"

"NO! The other step-brother!"

"Oh...DEREK?!" Lindsey shouted in disbelief. She had been told all the stories of their fighting and she had seen quite a bit of it herself to know that Derek and Casey did not play well. All they ever did was bicker, bicker, bicker, claws lashing out and scratching one another.

Lizzie nodded and cringed once more. She shook her head to clear the sight from her mind. Lindsey did the same, then smiled and took Lizzie's hand and pulled her to the dance floor.

"Come on, Liz!" She shouted. "Let's party!" She threw her hands up above her and twirled around. Lizzie shrugged and joined in, trying to follow her friend's moves. She hated dancing. She never thought she was good at it, but if she could just copy other people, she'd be fine. At least, that's what she told herself.

After quite a few songs of dancing, a slow song appeared and Lindsey and Lizzie stopped dancing, stepping off of the "dance floor", panting. Lizzie fanned herself.

"I'm thirsty," she said, heading to the kitchen. Lindsey caught Lizzie's arm before she could take a swig at a drink that was placed on the counter, surrounded by others exactly like it.

"You don't want to drink that," she said in her normal voice. The kitchen door muffled the music. Lizzie furrowed her eyebrows at Lindsey.

"And why not?" she asked, setting the drink down.

"It's alcoholic. Trust me," she said in a low voice, then digging in her purse. She pulled out a water bottle. Lizzie stared at the bottle, mouth agape, pointing at it.

"How'd you fit that," she gestured to the water bottle, "into_ that_," she gestured to her small purse. Lindsey shrugged and smirked.

"This thing is bigger than it looks. Here," she handed the bottle to Lizzie after taking a drink, "you really need some." She laughed and Lizzie shrugged, taking a drink of the water. After she brought the bottle away, she saw a disgruntled Derek near the back of the kitchen, touching his lips. Her eyes grew wide as she let out a yelp and pulled Lindsey out of sight.

"What the heck?" Lindsey asked.

"I can't stay here, Linds. Derek and Casey are here. What if they see me?!" Lizzie yelped out, clearly scared of being caught. Lindsey shrugged.

"Okay, Liz, so it's your first party, maybe you don't have to stay as long as everyone else," Lindsey sighed.

"If you want to stay. It's fine. I could...walk home?" Lizzie said, knowing that walking home would be a very bad idea. They hadn't even been there for an hour and she already wanted to leave. She thought that she was really bugging Lindsey with that.

"It's fine, Liz. Look, this party isn't even that great. Although, I would have loved to see Derek and Casey making out. I would have gotten a kick out of that one!" She shouted, laughing. Lizzie cringed once again. "Come on. We'll leave," Lindsey said, smiling.

"Are you sure?" Lizzie asked, glad to have such an understanding friend. Lindsey nodded.

"Yeah," she said.

--

Okay, that was really boring towards the end, but I couldn't help but put in the Derek and Casey making out part! Lol. Review please!


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